One of the areas in my manufacturing plant is plating (of metal strip). One or our contractors contends we need GFI protection of our hard wired imersion heaters (we also have hardwire pumps, etc.) Many other vendors do not agree this is required, although the heater manufacturer recommends it - for liability? I personally know of a lot of hardwired equipment in 'wet' environments that is not GFI protected. For example we have electric heat in thermalators in molding (They keep the molds at a certain temp) and they are not 'GFI'd'. Allowing this could mean a retrofit of our entire shop. Can anyone point out code support for either view?